Name: James Monroe
Birth-Death Date: April 28, 1758-July 4, 1831
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Terms of office: 2 (March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825)
Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins for both terms

Becoming the fifth President of the United States and leading Americans into the Era of Good Feeling, James Monroe should be awarded with a B. Before becoming president he had lasting achievements such as the Monroe Doctrine which contributed a lot to U.S. foreign policy and the Missouri Compromise which declared Missouri as a slave state. Some of his goals, however, failed or lasted for a short time.

Monroe's goals included renewing national unity and trust. He achieved this by following Goergoe Washington's example by going on a tour of the nation.He visited New England and the Middle Atlantic states where troops, parades, banquets and delegations of citizens greeted him like a hero of the Revolution. Another goal was to continue the Era of Good Feelings after the War of 1812 which also diminished political parties like the Federalist party. This era of time is ironic because it was troubled with issues like tariffs, the bank, internal improvements, and the sales of public lands.

During his presidency, Monroe kept a good, consistant relationship with Congress. The majority of both the House and Senate was the Democratic-Republican party, so he was able to win congressional approval for every thing that had the support of the cabinet. There was the time when Congress demanded internal improvements like the Cumberland Road; so they presented the Cumberland Road Bill to Monroe which he vetoed because it provided for yearly improvements on the road and also because he believed that it would be unconstitutional for the government to have a hand in a civics bill deserving attention. During the Panic of 1819, Monroe aided the economy with laws like the Land Act and the Relief act which were accepted by Congress. Monroe and Congress also passed The Missouri Comprise which was an agreement that resolved the issue of pairing Missouri which was a slave state with Maine, a free state.

The action of Monroe's administration that had the most positive outcome was the Monroe Doctrine. This was a policy that in which Monroe gave a message saying that further efforts by European governments to colonize land or interfere with the states in America would be viewed as an act of aggression. This Doctrine also said that the Western Hemisphere would not be colonized by European countries and that America would not get involved with the existing or the problems of European countries. Even though the Land Act and the Relief Act was passed to relief the stress and unemployment rate out of Americans during the Panic of 1819, this is Monroe's negative action in my opinion. He did not respond well enough for the depression. His acts were only short term affects that lasted a while.

The Missouri Compromise is a big influence on future presidential administrations because it debated the topic of sectionalism and slavery. There were many disputes and competition between the southern and northern states for power in Congress and control of future lands. The United states were also divided into free and slave states and majority of either one in the Senate would be in favor of their side.

In Conclusion, James Monroe had many challenges that he had to face and also many problems thrown at him but when he left the office, situations were not as bad as during his presidency. He took us into the Era of Good feeling but failed to continue it because of the many issues that needed to be taken care of. Monroe deserves a B because with Congress and his administration, there were many good attempts to help keep this wonderful nation consistent and independent.

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